Pumpkin - Since the most popular pumpkin dish is pie, you may have written off pumpkin as a weight-loss food. However, pumpkin is actually great for slimming down. One cup of pure canned pumpkin has only 83 calories, hardly any fat, and a whooping 7 grams of fiber! The orange flesh of pumpkin is also a great source of phytochemicals, which help keep blood sugar and insulin lower. Lower insulin levels help you burn fat instead of storing it. Try making a pumpkin soup.
Butternut squash will keep your blood sugars lower. That makes it a better carb-craving fix than white potatoes. (email me for a fantastic corn chowder made with butternut squash)
Sweet potatoes are a great weight-loss food because they’re low-fat, relatively low-calorie and fiber-rich. One cup of cooked sweet potato has about 7 grams of fiber. (A medium sweet potato is 103 calories with 4 grams of fiber.)It’s unfortunate that so many people trying to lose weight avoid sweet potatoes because they are starchy. Though that is true, sweet potatoes are whole, fiber-rich starch, which helps you feel full and satisfied while losing weight.
Apples - Even though they’re sweet, apples are loaded with water and fiber (four grams for a medium apple) and only 95 calories.Research shows that eating an apple before a meal will help you eat 100-150 calories less during the meal itself. And overweight women who added three apples a day to their usual diet for 10 weeks, ate fewer calories and lost more weight than those women who didn’t.
And here’s a lesser-known benefit of eating apples--they help increase the amount of good gut bacteria. And research shows that weight loss becomes easier as good gut bacteria numbers increase.
Cranberries - Fresh and frozen cranberries are a low-calorie, natural fiber food--just 23 calories in ½ cup of fresh cranberries, with two grams of fiber.
Pomelos - Pomelos, otherwise known as Chinese grapefruit or Shaddock, are the ancestor of grapefruit and originated in China. They’re pale green or yellow with a unique sweet and spicy flavor, not bitter like grapefruit. They contain a rare fat burning enzyme that also appears to help protect against the insulin resistance that leads to weight gain.
Pomegrantes - Pomegranate seeds are low in calories (¾ cup is only 83 calories), high in fiber (¾ cup has 4 grams of fiber) and high in nutrition. Several of the powerful compounds in pomegranate seeds help decrease insulin resistance, which, in turn, makes it easier for the weight to come off.
Persimmons - Persimmons are a great weight loss food because they’re low-calorie and high-fiber. A typical persimmon is only 118 calories and has 6 grams of fiber and less than a gram of fat.But there’s another reason persimmons are especially good for weight loss: they contain an orange pigment that research has shown actually helps prevent and reverse insulin resistance, which, overtime, can help you lower your blood sugar and burn fat instead of storing it.
Brussel Sprouts - Like most vegetables, Brussels sprouts are a great weight-loss food, because they’re low-calorie, contain almost no fat, are fiber-rich and very filling. They also provide a nice amount of protein to help you feel satisfied after eating. One cup of cooked Brussels sprouts has only 56 calories, plus 4 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, and almost no fat. An additional bonus, they contain 56 mg of calcium.
This means you can eat 2 cups for only 112 calories and a whopping 8 grams of fiber and protein.Eat well and watch the pounds dissolve away!
